Good afternoon. What are you up to this Sunday? Our crew is chillaxin in our jammies.

Catching Up

Practicing

The high from STITCHES is still going strong so I’ve been knitting. I frogged and cast on again for practice tubes for Magic Loop and for two circulars. I dealt with issues of twisting fabric which was a little frustrating but I soon learned if I keep the tubes close to one another, it’s much easier to handle two tubes. I’ve noticed my gauge is much more relaxed than knitting on DPN’s.

I think if I were to use Magic Loop in the future, I should use a longer circular. Patty had suggested 40″; my Addi is about 38″. I still like using two circulars because then I won’t have to worry as much about twisting cables and I like how the back circular is used like a stitch holder.

I started practicing Steven Be’s brioche but found I wasn’t in love with the colors I’m using (Madelinetosh Chunky in Tart and in Smokestack). I did look in my stash of worsted and wasn’t drawn to anything for the cowl. But, I did find a skein of String Theory in Peacock that I believe Ellen (The Ellen Report) gave me long ago at our one-time, meet up at Japantown; I looked up the colorway on Ravelry and really liked how it knit up.

Kondo-ing

This brings me into some of the Marie Kond-ing I’ve done. I’ve cleaned out inboxes of email and even Ravelry messages.

I took out all off my handknits and picked a few that I’m going to frog. One will be the colorwork top, Plastic Flamingo on the Lawn (From Another Place Crop Top by Leah Coccari-Smith). I hope to use the Madelinetosh Vintage in Forestry with String Theory’s Peacock for my brioche cowl. I’ll have to find the rest of that green skein in the closet.

I also have WIP’s that need to be frogged, one being Purlbreak that was barely started in a lovely green yarn. I found it wasn’t bringing me joy which is why I had hunted for new yarn at the marketplace.

Knitting

The Past Two Days

The four of us had spent a chunk of Saturday up in Daly City, celebrating my brother’s 42nd birthday. I packed my shawl WIP along in case I had time to knit.

Meet the stars of my new Purlbreak WIP:

Can you see the sparkles?! Aren’t they magical?!

Top Row

House of Slytherin

Vault 713

Bottom Row

House of Ravenclaw II (movie colors)

House of Ravenclaw (book colors)

Here’s what I have so far – Section 1, Color A. I had started this Friday night during our continued binge of Glee. By the time I finished a part, my stitch count was one less than it was supposed to be. My perfectionism couldn’t take fudging that one, little stitch so I started ripping back row by row until I figured out what was wrong. I thought I did, but when I looked at it Saturday morning, I realized the number and the row didn’t match. So I ripped back another row and then the light bulb went on.

A Memory

Want to hear about something cute that happened? Before dessert at my brother’s, I brought out my project bag and started knitting. One of my nephews, Ry – who’s four years old, saw me knitting on the couch by the window. This rascal climbed up and was fascinated by my yarn. He picked up the green cake and kept saying it was soft and he would rub it against his cheek. My nephew also said cool because I had pointed out the sparkles in it. Then this toddler took out the other yarn cakes and had fun touching and looking at them. He compared them to small tires on a car. Ry was most drawn to House of Ravenclaw II because he really liked the blue. I would remind him to be gentle so they wouldn’t get unravel and get tangled up; he was so good about handling them. I told him next time he can come to my house and he can help me wind up yarn. I tried to show him a Youtube video of a yarn swift and ball winder winding up yarn but my nephew didn’t seem impressed. I think Ry will like the process more in person.

I’m having pleasurable fun knitting this shawl. It makes me very happy to have something Harry Potter-themed.

This picture shows the order of how I’ll use the yarns. Color B can be either just one color or the sample in the pattern above shows Color B as three colors. I like the idea of the last three colorways fading into one another.

A funny note: the Tween is offended that I’m not having her HufflePuff colors in my shawl.

Okay, off to go back to reading WP blogs. Enjoy the rest of your day. TTYS.

It’s all I want to do pretty much. I do need to get back to my BuJo though. I didn’t create the last two weeks. I meant to start catching up today but got sidetracked by starting to watch Lucifer on Netflix. I love his cheekiness.

I love how intentional this post sounds. Sometimes I crochet (and knit) like a mad woman because I want to burn through stash, but I’ve hit a slump after a few months of that, and I think what I realize (reading this post) is my slump is telling me that this can be a season of more intentionality. It’s all good, but embracing this thought, I think is better than being dismayed at my overall sense that nothing significant is happening at this point, and what I put my hand to recently just doesn’t seem to work out right. Maybe I’ll have sorted it out by Sunday (when I write a YOP update), but I want you to know this post has helped me in the middle of this week. Probably in ways you didn’t even imagine when you wrote it. 🙂

Thanks, Stef. I don’t think it will be profound. ;^) I just think (for now) I’m going to stop feeling discouraged/worried that I’m not terribly excited by yarn at the moment. And I betcha, as soon as I truly feel okay about that, something will strike my fancy and I’ll be off again. Or not. I just need to remember to not worry about it. lol